214: The Truth About “Overnight Success” Stories (And Why They’re So Dangerous)
Ever feel like you’re the only one not making six figures from a single PDF or going viral every other week?
In this episode, I’m sharing a message from one of my clients that really hit home. She opened up about the pressure of constantly seeing big, flashy success stories and how discouraging it can feel when you’re in a season of rebuilding or slow growth.
I talk about:
Why these $1M-in-a-year stories can mess with your mindset
What most people don’t tell you about their “overnight” wins
Why one sale does matter — and how to build from it
How I protect my mindset (hint: less email, more mastermind chats)
If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing something wrong just because success isn’t coming fast, this one’s for you.
Stop Letting “Overnight Success” Stories Make You Feel Like a Failure
What the viral $1M posts aren’t telling you — and what to focus on instead
If you’ve ever read an email, scrolled through a podcast feed, or opened Instagram and thought:
“Why does everyone seem to be winning big except me?” —
You're not imagining it.
Everywhere you turn, you’ll see someone sharing how they made $100K in 30 days, sold 10,000 copies of a PDF in a weekend, or grew their business to $1M in a year. These stories are everywhere — in email marketing platforms like ConvertKit and CastMagic, in podcasts, blog posts, and digital product communities.
But here’s the thing:
Those stories, while inspiring, can seriously mess with your mindset. Especially if you’re rebuilding. Or launching something new. Or just trying to figure out how to make one sale.
This blog post is for anyone who feels like they’re starting from zero again. Like nothing is working. Like they're falling behind.
Let’s talk about the truth behind these stories, why they feel so discouraging, and how to shift your focus back to progress that actually matters.
The Problem with Viral Success Stories
One of my clients recently sent me a voice message that perfectly captured this feeling. She’s been in business for a while, had some strong years in the past, but recently found herself in a season of starting over. Here’s what she said:
"Everywhere you look, it’s all about massive success stories — someone made $1M in their first year. It’s overblown. And honestly, it’s starting to make me feel like a failure. I made zero sales last month. This month I made one. And while that’s progress, it feels invisible compared to what I keep seeing online.”
Her message hit me hard. Because I’ve been there. And so have most entrepreneurs I know — even the ones you think have it all figured out.
What You Don’t See Behind the Headlines
Let’s break down what those stories don’t usually include:
That $24K “first product” launch? It likely came from someone with a large, established email list — or paid traffic.
That $1M year? It may have taken a decade to build the audience and skills to support it.
That “viral growth hack”? It’s not replicable, and they probably tried 50 other things that didn’t work.
The biggest problem? These stories often leave out context, which makes it feel like your slow, steady progress isn’t good enough. But let me tell you something:
Progress is still progress, even if it’s not flashy.
One sale after a dry spell matters.
Five new subscribers on your email list matter.
Testing a new offer, even if it doesn’t convert right away — still matters.
I’ve Never Had an “Easy” Win (And That’s Okay)
Let’s be honest. I’ve been running digital product businesses for years now — and I can count on one hand how many things have worked on the first try.
I’ve never had a PDF that casually made $24K in a weekend.
I’ve never had a funnel that went viral out of the gate.
I’ve had to fight for nearly every sale — testing, tweaking, rebuilding, and trying again.
That doesn’t make me a failure.
That makes me a real business owner.
And if you’re reading this, I bet the same is true for you.
Why You Should Be Skeptical — In a Healthy Way
Here’s something that might surprise you: I think you should be a little cynical.
When you hear a success story, ask:
What resources did they have that I don’t?
How long have they really been building this?
Are they telling the whole story?
Being critical doesn’t mean you’re jealous or bitter — it means you’re protecting your energy and focus.
I’ve learned to be very careful about who I follow. I don’t consume a lot of content from “big names,” and I rarely hang out on social media anymore. Why? Because I don’t want to get sucked into comparison cycles that drain my motivation.
Instead, I talk to my mastermind group — people who will tell the truth about what’s working and what’s not. That’s the kind of support that keeps me grounded.
Normalize THIS Kind of Success
Let’s normalize talking about:
The first $97 sale after a long dry spell
The 3 opt-ins you got today that made you smile
That moment when your new email actually got replies
Small wins are still wins. You’re not behind. You’re building. And that’s what matters.
And if you're in a season where things feel slower or harder than you expected — I want you to hear this clearly:
👉 You are not a failure.
👉 You are not doing it wrong.
👉 You are not alone.
The people who go the distance are the ones who keep showing up — even when it’s hard. Even when no one’s watching. Even when they only got one sale.
Final Thoughts: Redefining Growth on Your Terms
You don’t need to hit seven figures this year to be proud of your business.
You don’t need to go viral to make an impact.
You just need to keep going, keep learning, and keep growing — at your own pace.
So next time you see a viral success story that makes you feel “less than,” take a breath. Step back. And remind yourself of the real story you’re writing — the one that isn’t built in a weekend, but will last a whole lot longer.
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Welcome to the Creator's MBA podcast, your go-to resource for mastering the art and science of digital product entrepreneurship. My name is Dr. Destini Copp and I help business owners generate consistent revenue from their digital product business without the need to be glued to their desk. Constantly live, launching or worrying about the social media algorithms.
I hope you enjoy our episode today.
Hi there, destiny here welcome back to the podcast.
Today's episode has been inspired by. A message I received from one of my clients that really struck a chord with me. Here's what she said, destiny, I need to vent about something That's really annoying to me lately.
[00:01:00] Everywhere I look, emails podcast is all about 1 million a year after she just started
Everything is about these massive successes, and honestly, it's making me feel pretty crappy. when you're. Inundated with emails from Kit, CastMagic and others talking about people making millions. It doesn't resonate with me anymore. I think we need to focus more on realistic wins, like making one sale
it makes everyone who isn't making millions feel like a failure, forgetting that creating any business from zero Is an achievement and any sale should be celebrated. when I got this message from my client, I knew that this is something we had to talk about on the podcast because I suspect many of you are
[00:02:00] feeling the exact same way.
Her frustration really resonated with me personally because it's one of the reasons why I'm not on a lot of people's email list. I really do very little to almost nothing on social media because of this, these massive success stories, they're everywhere. They are highlighting extra ordinary outcomes.
Email sequences promising seven figure formulas and social media posts showcasing overnight success. the problem isn't people's ambition, right? We're all ambitious. We all want to do well, and I think ambition is very healthy. The problem is that these stories create completely. Unrealistic expectations,
A lot of us
[00:03:00] feel like failures if we're just paying our bills or if we're making slow but steady progress. But what I think is worse is that most of these stories leave out the very, very crucial. Details, and that might be the years of foundation building before the quote unquote overnight success. It might leave out the privilege, the connections, or the advantages that that particular person started with it most likely.
Leaves out the failed attempts that came before that big win, and sometimes even the sheer luck that was involved. And sometimes, yes, luck is a factor here.
I don't think that this is only annoying. I think it's harmful because it pushes a lot of us towards unsustainable
[00:04:00] hustle culture or makes us question our worth based on our income or what we are achieving, and it can lead to burnout or people giving up entirely. she did a promotion last month that brought in zero sales and another promotion for her. academy. It's a membership she has, and this month it brought in one cell and she has a very, very strong offer. And she's been doing this for, several years now.
And her first. Reaction to this was disappointment, right? We would all be disappointed if that happened to us the first reaction based on human behavior is to start questioning everything, Your offer, your messaging, your entire business model, when you start comparing your current situation to either.
Your
[00:05:00] past success or some of those million dollar case studies flooding your inbox, you start questioning everything. But here's the perspective shift that I think is so very powerful. So that one sale. That she got, that's a hundred percent increase from last month. That one sale represents a real person who valued what she created enough to invest their hard-earned money into it.
That one sale is evidence that she is moving in the right direction in what she's doing. instead of beating ourselves up, we need to start asking better questions. What did we change between last month and this month? What resonated with this particular customer and how can we build on this small success?
I would say that this perspective does
[00:06:00] change everything. When you look at it from that perspective, you go from feeling like a failure to feeling like scientists, Making observations, testing things out. Finding what works and that's what's going to help you move forward. we need to redefine success and talk about what success actually means to us.
Is it making a million dollars or. creating something valuable that actually helps people? Building a business that supports your desired lifestyle, learning and growing through challenges. Making consistent progress, whatever small that might be. maybe it's finding fulfillment in your work.
I would have to say, even if I was not getting paid for what I was doing. I would be willing to do it anyway, because
[00:07:00] I absolutely love what I'm doing and I love working very closely with digital product entrepreneurs. success is building something sustainable that serves others while allowing me to live the life that I want
That might mean, okay, I see some pretty good sustainable growth there. Other months, it might mean that one sale that is teaching me something very, very valuable. I would say that entrepreneurs who last aren't necessarily the ones with the flashiest launches. Or the biggest income months. I've been doing this for many, many years, and I have seen some of those big, I'll put it in quotation marks.
You don't see me doing this, but these big success stories, they're not here anymore. They closed up their business and went away to do something else, I have no
[00:08:00] idea, quite frankly, what a lot of them doing, but I have definitely seen them come and go over the years. The ones who are successful are the ones who keep showing up, keep learning, and keep making those incremental improvements,
Every single week, every single day, what can I do to move my business forward, even if it's just that 1% improvement So then the question becomes how do we. Maintain our motivation when we're not seeing those headline worthy results, which most of us aren't gonna see So here's what's working for me.
The first thing is tracking your micro metrics, Instead of obsessing over how many sales you got this month track smaller indicators of your progress. Maybe it's your email open
[00:09:00] rates, Positive comments from clients. content engagement or new email subscribers. I want you to document your journey. keep a business journal where you record what you're learning and the small improvements you're making. Just do this once a day,
Here's what I did today. Here's what I've learned. Here's the improvement that I saw. And this will create a record of your progress that you can look back on. And it's not you measuring yourself to other people, it's you documenting what's going on with you personally. The other thing I would say is surround yourself with reality.
be very selective about who you follow. And what content you consume. look for people who are sharing honest journeys, not just their highlight reels. I do
[00:10:00] that here on the Creator's MBA podcast, and I want you to create your own success definition.
So I want you to write down what success means for you. review it regularly because it may change over time. And then I want you to celebrate incrementally. acknowledge every single step forward, no matter how small. when my client shared her frustration, she tapped into something many of us are feeling. We've created a business culture where if you are not making millions, you're somehow. Failing and that is complete nonsense, The fact that you've created something from nothing, like literally, think about what we've done with Hobby School.
It was nothing, a domain name and nothing else. You've had your courage to put your work into the
[00:11:00] world. And the fact that you've even made it this far, that is extraordinary. So here is what I propose. Let us start a different kind of conversation. I want us to start talking about that messy middle, the slow growth, those one cell victories.
I want you to normalize building sustainable businesses. Rather than those quote unquote overnight success stories. Because what's going on with you and your business, it is not a failure. It is data, it is progress, and it's worthy of celebration. So I would love to hear about your small wins, and I wanna help you celebrate them.
Email me back, contact me, let me know. You can text me too from the podcast. Let me know something that you have
[00:12:00] accomplished recently that might not necessarily make the headlines, but represents real progress for you. I want you to share it proudly because those incremental steps forward are what real business success is made of.
I want to thank my client who inspired this episode. Thank you so much for your honesty. Your One cell victory isn't just a personal win. It is a reminder to all of us about what really matters in building a sustainable business. Until next time, I want all of you to keep celebrating those small victories.
They are adding up to something beautiful. Have a great rest of your day and bye for now.
Thanks for listening all the way to the end. I hope you enjoyed this episode today. If you love the show, I'd appreciate a review on Apple Podcast or your favorite
[00:13:00] podcast platform. Have a great rest of your day and bye for now.